Wyoming Utilities Diverge In Response To Climate Change

The Jim Bridger Power Plant, one of Rocky Mountain Power's generation sources.

The National Climate Assessment says Wyoming’s energy sector could find itself squeezed for water in the future. Both energy production and generation consume large amounts of water, but changes in precipitation patterns mean there will be less of it to go around. The report points out that across the nation, water shortages already threaten power generation for more than a million homes. That's expected to increase.

“One of the things that we’ve done to really make sure we’re well-positioned to meet concerns of climate change, is in our planning process, to make sure we don’t have all of our eggs in one basket, that we have a diverse resource mix,” Hymas says.

But other Wyoming utilities are unconcerned. Shawn Taylor, with the Wyoming Rural Electric Association, says some cooperative members don’t see the science as settled on climate change and that as a result, it would be premature to make plans for dealing with it.

“It’s not really part of the focus except when it comes to policies and regulations that are passed under the guise of climate change, and then we have to deal with those,” Taylor says.

Taylor says the cooperatives have encountered drought and extreme weather in the past, and that they’ll continue to prepare for those events, but not as part of a climate change strategy.

Both utilities say climate change regulations, like a rule due out in June about greenhouse gas emissions from coal-fired power plants, will have a big impact on both utilities and consumers.

This week President Obama announced he's going to attempt to combat climate change from the Oval Office. Wyoming's three Republicans in Congress are none too happy with his plan. As Matt Laslo reports, they say it could cripple the state's economy and hit your pocket.

MATT LASLO: Climate change wasn't really a part of the 20-12 election, so the president surprised many when he promised to deal with global warming in his second inaugural address. Now he's coming out swinging again...charging Republicans with being deaf to the scientific community.

Governor Matt Mead and other elected officials made the case during a Jackson forum Wednesday that Wyoming's future depends on energy. They said that tapping state's energy resources, from coal to natural gas, is what pays the bills when it comes to building schools and other vital infrastructure.

But the governor said that doesn't mean producing energy should come at the cost of the environment. And that impressed Paul Hansen, who moderatedthe forum.